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Tyler Seguin trying to make up for scoring drought

Tyler Seguin finally turned 21 this week, and though he can finally have a legal drink in the United States, at this point he’d probably prefer a goal to a Guinness.

Through seven games, Seguin has only an empty-net goal to his name, which came in the final seconds of the Bruins' 5-3 win over the Hurricanes on Monday. The goal may have helped his stats, but it made Seguin an easier target for linemate Brad Marchand, who joked that “you couldn’t ask for a better goal for him.”

Yet that (along with a pair of shootout goals), has been it for the third-year player, who led the B's with 29 goals a season ago. He had 25 goals in 29 games during the lockout in the Swiss League but has had a quiet go of it since returning to Boston. Claude Julien said earlier in the week that Seguin was "out of sync," while Seguin agrees that he's been snakebitten.

"Of course I've felt snakebitten from the first game when I walked in all alone on the goalie and went five-hole," Seguin said Thursday. "Maybe I scored too much in Switzerland, I don't know, but I know it's going to come eventually."

The good news for Seguin is that his scoring drought hasn’t soured his attitude and brought down the rest of his game. After some quiet nights in the season's opening games, Seguin played perhaps his best game of the season Thursday, turning in a strong performance in the first two periods that was highlighted by his willingness to battle in front of the net -- a rarity in Seguin’s game -- in order to create enough havoc for Marchand to score his second goal of the game and team-high fifth of the season.

“He did a great job there and that’s where he’s developing in his game,” Marchand said of Seguin. “He’s working in all areas of the ice, and he’s battling a lot harder in the corners and in front of the net, and that’s what we need him to do.

“He’s such a great player that goals are going to come,” he added. “There’s nothing to worry about there. He’s very talented and he’s getting his opportunities and eventually they’re going to go in.”

Seguin wasn’t drafted second overall in 2010 because teams thought he could battle in front of the net, but it’s still something he’ll need to do from time to time. He will never be confused for one of the league’s tougher players given his tendencies to shy away from contact, but the fact that he took on a couple of defenders and held his own resulted in a goal that at the time gave the B’s a 3-1 lead.

Claude Julien wasn’t too happy with his team’s performance in the 7-4 loss to the Sabres on Thursday, though he did view that play as a bright spot not only for the team but for Seguin’s development.

“With Tyler, we’ve talked about just being more assertive, because when he’s more assertive, he’s more sure of everything he’s going to do, and it makes him that much of a better player,” Julien said. “I thought he did a good job tonight, because he was one of the main reasons why Brad scored like that.”

As for the lack of goals, Seguin attributes some of his offensive struggles to getting used to playing on the NHL ice after playing in bigger European rinks. He recalls finishing maybe one check in his 29 games for HC Biel, while getting hit perhaps three times, so that should tell you all about the space that he had to work with.

The argument can obviously be made that plenty of players -- 12 in the Bruins' case -- have had to deal with the same adjustment, but perhaps a skill player like Seguin has had a harder time with it, given that his speed and scoring touch could have made it easier to form bad habits and stray from the style needed to succeed in the NHL.

"Of course it's going to take some time to get adjusted -- I can't lie, but [the space in the NHL] is so much smaller," he said. "The guys are better and bigger here, so it really takes away some time and space from your game."

Seguin said that he always feels that it takes him five games to get comfortable in a new season or a new league. He's played seven games since returning to the NHL, so he said the scoring is "going to come."

Though he didn't seem to have too hard a time in Switzerland (he had 15 assists to go with the aforementioned goals for 40 points), Seguin said that adjusting was also an issue for him when he first arrived there as well.

"The first couple of games over there [I struggled]. My first few shifts over there, I didn't even touch the puck," he said. "It's just adjusting. I didn't score until I think my third game there. Sometimes it takes time, and I'm just going with it right now."

As far as pressing goes, Seguin doesn't think he's gripping his stick any tighter after his slow offensive start, citing the opportunities he's gotten as the most important thing. He'd be more worried if he was playing entire games without the puck, but he's gotten chances and views cashing in as the next step.

"In the end, when you're still getting opportunities you can't be too mad at yourself or press yourself too much, but I think I'm still doing the little things right. Whether it's in my own end or making smart chips or winning battles, I think I'm doing that to a good level and still improving that," he said. "With that, I think the goals are going to come as well."

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